I love this idea. Sticky Fingers comes up with some great prompts to get you thinking and encourages you to focus (literally) on the photos that really mean something to you, not necessarily as works of art but as memories, reflections and moments that you will look back on with real affection (or horror I suspect in some cases, the topics are very varied.)

My contribution this week is one that I have always loved and been proud of, not just because my children look calm (most unusual), happy to have their photo taken (ie posing as I asked them) and clean. This last point is not to be underestimated when deciding on a photo to send round at Christmas to Grandparents and all the elderly relations who kindly send a £2 coin through the post despite all the usual warnings about possibly unscrupulous Christmas temps at the Post Office. I hate it when I show people photos I love of my children in all sorts of messy but happy situations, for them to say ‘couldn’t you have brushed their hair?’ Or ‘In my day we had to pose for an hour with a fixed smile and a metal rod down the back of our trousers for a real family photo…’

My two in France

Anyway, I quite appreciate that these are my two and I am bound to think they look lovely. I do not expect everyone to feel the same, of course. But I love the way Evie has her foot turned over and James, aged 10, has adopted for the first time a pose that suggests what he will be like as a man. I love the soft expressions they both have, the light, their clothes, everything makes me feel happy and proud of this photograph, because the children and the camera are mine.

I’m not surprised you love that photo – it’s very lovely. And yes, how different photography is nowadays. I must must MUST get around to ordering proper ‘hard’ copies of my favourites and putting them in an album. My photo albums ARE my past – as I don’t keep a diary (other than the blog, I suppose).

Yes! I honestly think family historians are going to have a very difficult time about 50 years hence. So many of us leave precious memories on a hard drive that will end up disappearing into the ether when some new technology comes along (or our PC crashes…)